


the sands are merciless (and yet the wind calls us home)

by SilverUtahraptor



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Original Female Character, BAMF Temari (Naruto), BAMF Women, F/F, Gen, Gift Fic, Kazekage Temari, Original Female Character - Freeform, Sunagakure | Hidden Sand Village, Uchiha Madara is mentioned but only for his gunbai, Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Women In Power, and I mean the actual gunbai it’s not an euphemism sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28313142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverUtahraptor/pseuds/SilverUtahraptor
Summary: All is not well in Rasa's Sunagakure.People cope differently.(There's change on the winds.)
Relationships: Temari/Original Female Character
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	the sands are merciless (and yet the wind calls us home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FiresFromOurHearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Desert Oasis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27990825) by [FiresFromOurHearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts). 



> For Fire, a continuation/spin off of her recent Kazekage Temari short, [Desert Oasis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27990825), which is amazing and everyone should go and read that now. Fire, I love you and all that you do.
> 
> Basically, my thought process was: What's better than Kazekage Temari? Easy, Kazekage Temari with a girlfriend :)  
> Except it turned mostly into a story of my OC and there’s like, five seconds of Temari/OC in this I’m so sorry Fire🤣
> 
> Technically this is set in Fire’s absolutely amazing Uzushio series [The Sea Never Dies](https://archiveofourown.org/series/715674), but most of the background you need to know for this is that Gaara gets his seal fixed in Konoha and Temari later becomes Kazekage. Before that, all is not well in Suna…

Reika starts learning early what living in Sunagakure means. She’s three-almost-four to her brother’s fourteen, a late not-quite-planned child yet still cherished by her mothers and her sibling. _(Sometimes accidents happen and for the most part, Reika has been a happy one for her parents.)_

Reika is happy until she’s not. She’s three-almost-four when Kaori, her scarred, well-muscled mom with a fierce grin and the sides of her hair cut so short that Reika loves to run her fingers through the fluff, doesn’t come back from a mission. Her name is added to the memorial. Reika’s other mother Yuzune, with her soft but skillful hands and always surrounded by the sharp tang of various desert plants, stops smiling that day. Reika doesn’t see her cry, but many many nights she listens to her big brother Akitoshi having hushed but intense arguments with her behind the closed door of their kitchen, long after Reika should have been asleep. After one of those, the next day Yuzune always hugs her extra long before she is sent off to the Academy, and Akitoshi always buys Reika her favorite sweets when he comes to pick her up. _(Later she will look back and know what their arguments were about, but now she only sees the additional attention they get her. Later, she will struggle to recall Kaori’s face and her smell but she will always remember her childish giddiness whenever another argument happened. It’s a grievance she hides deep in her heart because she can’t even say who she is angry at.)_

Reika is four, five, six and at the Academy. She never gets out of the habit of listening to conversations behind closed doors, and so she listens and listens and listens. _(Even shinobi often forget how much children might hear. She’s not the only little girl listening but the least dangerous, even if they won’t know that for many years.)_ She listens and then she watches the world around her, noting all the small ways that words and actions will lie. She walks across Suna’s markets and watches some of the older shinobi train. Sometimes she goes to the memorial stone and stares at her mother’s name, wondering if this Suna is really the village she died for. If it’s a village _she_ wants to die for. But she keeps those questions for the dead only.

She’s seven when Akitoshi’s best friend doesn’t come back from a mission. Another name added to the memorial. This time, the argument between him and Yuzune is far from hushed and ends with their mother softly crying. Reika sits on the top of the stairs when her brother comes storming out of the kitchen. His face is angry and sad - but there’s fierce determination on his face that suddenly reminds her of Kaori. Akitoshi looks at her and something almost like grief steals on his face, too. “Reika-chan,” he says, and she throws herself into his arms. He holds her close, pressing kisses into her hair. Then he swallows hard and leans in with his lips right next to her ear. “Always be bright, Reika, _but_ _don’t let them know_.” _(Suna is a harsh village. A bright day is a day full of endless sun and heat. To be bright is to be strong here. It’s dangerous to be bright in Rasa’s Sunagakure, she realises in that moment.)_

The next week, her brother’s name is added to a list of missing-nin after he doesn’t return from a standard mission. Masked shinobi escort Reika and Yuzune to the Kazekage. “And did he say anything to _you_ ,” Rasa says and stares at Reika like one of the big scouting hawks, eyes unblinking and cold.

She thinks about Kaori and Akitoshi and she thinks about always listening and most of all she thinks of _Always be bright, Reika_. She hunches in into herself. “Niisan… Niisan gave me a letter, Kazekage-sama. And I- I didn’t know what to do! He said I’d know when to read it, but- but!” Everyone is looking at her now, Yuzune with well-hidden sadness in her eyes.

“I see. And where is this letter now, Reika?” The Kazekage’s voice is almost as cold as his eyes.

She thrusts her hand into her shirt, into the hidden pocket her mother once helped her sew there, and pulls out the letter. It’s crumpled, but visibly unopened. Her hands shake when she holds it out towards the Kazekage. One of the masked shinobi - ANBU, she suddenly remembers from her lessons - takes it from her and flares their chakra for a moment, checking it for traps. Then it’s handed to the Kazekage. He reads it and tilts his head slightly, before rising and nodding to the ANBU.

He stops to glance at her. “You will soon graduate from the Academy, isn’t that so? You did the right thing, Reika, for Suna.” And then they’re dismissed, Yuzune’s hand gripping hers tightly. ( _And Reika prays to all the gods that she did indeed do the right thing and that Akitoshi is not foolish enough to trust his little sister with his plans and whereabouts. Because when Rasa said Suna, he meant HIS Suna, which is not the Suna of her dead mother and, it seems, not of her missing brother. But Akitoshi left and she’s still here and Yuzune is still here and to be bright they need to live first. The dead only shine bright in memory and the empty spaces left behind.)_

* * *

Training is when Reika can almost forget all that she hears and sees and knows, when she doesn’t need to keep her thoughts in check as much and can instead concentrate on the way her body’s moving. So she trains. The tessen interests her, and because she is talented and dedicated she gets lessons. They are even more interesting. Soon she realises that a medium-sized gunbai suits her best, allowing her to both attack sweepingly yet still block her opponent’s attacks. _(Reika doesn’t know it yet, but after her graduation from the Academy Yuzune will present her with a well-cared for gunbai covered in seals. “Your mother’s,” she will whisper, and beside the tears there will be fierce pride in her eyes.)_

The tessenjutsu lessons are also where she officially meets Temari. Not often, since the Kazekage’s daughter is moved around frequently, never sticking with the same teachers and sparring partners for long.

_(Sometimes, earlier at the Academy, she had watched Temari and idly wondered about the life of the Kazekage’s family. Later, she looks at Temari and sees someone who is always watching and listening as well. It’s dangerous to watch and listen in Suna, and both girls never bring up how often their eyes accidentally meet. Even later, she will realise that of course Temari noticed her, just like she did so much else.)_

Their few spars are still enough to leave an impression on Reika. Neither of them is the type to give up easily, but something in Reika’s mind chants _don’t let them know don’t let them know DON’T LET THEM KNOW_ , and so it’s her who ends up on the ground, panting, more often than not. She raises her gaze to look at Temari, who gazes back for a long moment before smiling with bloodied teeth. ( _It’s this image that will stick with her - a fierce girl who always stood her ground, stood up again and smiled at the world with an unspoken dare in the corners of her mouth.)_

* * *

Reika _knows_ that Temari is Suna’s future, is their chance to do better and to grow and to be proud of their village again. So when Reika’s jounin sensei _(who had only ever seen what he wanted and ways to make himself look good and who had never, ever looked at his genin for their own sakes)_ steps forward to challenge Temari for the Kazekage seat, she doesn’t hesitate to scratch the back of his hand with a needle coated in one of her mother’s poisons as he passes her. It’s a slight scratch, not even visible, and a mild poison. Yet he will stumble in a vital moment, reacting a hair too slow to evade the swipe of Temari’s fan, and their future Kazekage will have defeated another challenger. Reika is careful not to grin too much until Temari remains the last one standing and is indeed declared their new Kazekage.

* * *

She's immediately named chunin by their new Kazekage, and then Reika goes on mission after mission. They’re different now, the missions - teamwork is _wanted_ now, required even in some cases, and while many of Suna’s shinobi struggle with that, she doesn’t. (She thinks of names on the memorial stone and she thinks of her brother and most of all she thinks of a girl with blood on her teeth and fierce determination in her eyes. _Teamwork will not be a weakness_ , that girl had told everyone in her inauguration ceremony, daring the world to disagree.)

She remembers someone else saying _Be bright_ and because there must be trust in Suna now, to make their village work and to make it all _worth_ it, Reika stops hiding her brightness, her skills, even her thoughts. She takes down opponents her mission leaders struggle with, she points out tactical errors and logical fallacies in her superiors’ plans, she makes their enemies fear a _Suna_ gunbai again. And she does it all with nothing her goal but her village, thriving. _(Suna thrives when missions are finished successfully without a hitch. Suna thrives when the teams she’s assigned to return in full and with only minor scrapes. Suna thrives when their enemies see a gunbai and feel fear.)_

* * *

Reika is 18 when she’s called in for a private audience with the Kazekage. Her steps never falter, but for a moment she thinks of names on memorial stones and names in bingo books and her mother at home, waiting waiting waiting. But then she remembers trust and changes and hope, and there is no fear in her chest.

Temari meets her at a training ground, no guards in sight. She’s leaning on her fan. Her grin is sharp, but it’s the sharpness everyone in Suna knows deep down to their bones, not the sharpness of cold steel at night and missions gone wrong when they shouldn’t. “Care for a spar?” The Kazekage asks, studying her. “I’ve had so many people - another Kage even - tell me that I must have summoned Uchiha Madara’ shade back, for where else would I have found someone with such skill with the gunbai.” Her tone clearly shows what she thinks about this particular accusation.

Reika stares at her for a moment and then _laughs_ at the incredulity of it all while Temari’s grin grows even sharper. “If only someone would find me the corresponding skill in Katon jutsu, Kazekage-sama.” She’s Suna through and through, wind responding to her first and foremost, even if lately she has been quite successful in throwing in an earth jutsu or three.

Then she grows more solemn, reaching for the gunbai on her back. “This was my mother’s. Her name was Kaori,” she says and meets the other woman’s eyes straight on. There’s something almost like recognition there. “If I had the help of anyone’s shade in my skill, it would be hers.” _(Her mother of course died- was killed on a mission that should’ve been easy long before Reika was old enough to learn tessenjutsu from her. And yet, whenever she wields her gunbai, she thinks of a fierce grin and hair cut short and fluffy at the sides just like her own, now.)_

Temari studies her for a few moments longer before she nods. “I need a new leader for the Tessen Division,” she then says abruptly, rotating her shoulders to warm up. “You’ll need to be jounin for that, but there are only three missions left before you reach the formal requirements.” Temari meets her gaze again, still with that sharp grin. “I expect you to do these in a month.”

Reika blinks. The warfan division makes up a quarter of Suna’s forces, almost but not quite equal to the Puppet Corps and the Poisoners. It’s also the division that’s more often sent out for joint missions with other villages, being seen as the most sociable. For years, Reika had been listening to people say that Temari would lead that division sooner or later. But Temari is the Kazekage now, and that means she can’t lead that division herself and that it won’t matter that Reika is only 18 and-

She throws herself to the side in time to avoid the giant tessen aiming for her head. She twists to aim a kick back at Temari, gunbai used for leverage, and then- their spar is on.

They fight back and forth across the sand, almost heedless of their surroundings. Reika is aware that at some point, both of the Kazekage’s brothers stop by to watch their spar, but they fade from her notice soon enough. Fighting Temari is _exhilarating_. She doesn’t need to hold back anything, and she knows the basics of her opponent’s style enough that she can truly appreciate the more advanced, _genius_ moves the other woman throws at her.

The Kazekage doesn’t hold anything back either. And so it’s still Reika who ends up with blood on her teeth more often than not, but she always gets up again.

And again.

And again.

It’s growing cold and dark by the time Reika is on the ground yet another time, her gunbai several feet away. She eyes Temari. Both women are breathing hard. There’s a bruise covering almost half of the Kazekage’s face where one of Reika’s kicks connected early on in their spar.

“7 to 3 for you, sister, though it would’ve been 6 to 4 if Reika-san had actually gone through with poisoning you that one time,” calls out the Kazekage’s puppeteer brother, Kankuro, from where he’s sitting on a boulder a wise distance away.

“... depending on the poison, their spar could also have been over completely then,“ adds the Kazekage‘s other brother with his soft, almost reluctant voice. No one flinches anymore when he speaks now, and Reika thinks that’s a miracle in itself.

Temari nods at her brothers and then holds out a hand to pull her to her feet, grin a bit lopsided. Reika winces when that move makes her painfully aware of what feels like at least three cracked ribs to go along with a probably spectacular black eye and sprained elbow. Not to mention the dozens of smaller scrapes and bruises that will make tomorrow morning rather interesting.

“Poison use in friendly spars is a topic of some discussion, and we didn’t set terms in the beginning,” she explains softly. “I reached for a poisoned senbon on instinct but then figured I’d rather _not_ want to be accused of trying to assassinate you, Kazekage-sama.”

“It’s Temari when I’m not giving you orders,” the other woman says, and then adds “Using poison as backup for your already excellent taijutsu and ninjutsu is a good strategy.”

Reika tells her body to behave, but she can still feel blood rushing into her cheeks at the compliment. “Thank you. Temari-san.”

Temari continues to smile at her. Her teeth are a bit bloody too, so Reika smiles back with her own significantly more bloody teeth. They’re still loosely holding on to each other’s hand.

She finds some more courage at that. “Would… would you like to go for a drink?”

Temari stares at her for a long moment, eyes bright. Then she twists their hands so they’re properly interlocking fingers and can more easily walk side by side. “I know a place.” Her smile is still sharp, but there’s a hint of _something_ in her gaze.

* * *

Years later, Reika is sent on a diplomatic mission to Uzushio along with Gaara. Her and Temari’s brother have gotten along well the past years - they’re not always of many words but silence spent together has meaning, too. It’s still fascinating to see how the redhead opens up in the company of other jinchuriki, which Uzushio certainly doesn’t lack for.

“The Kazekage sends us _her wife_ ,” someone huffs under their breath from amidst the group standing behind the Uzukage, sounding vaguely snide.

Reika smiles in the way she always does when someone points out her position or her age or a perceived lack of skill. _(It’s a smile that Temari adores and that their enemies learned to fear. It’s deceptively soft.)_

“The Kazekage sends us her Commander of the Tessen Division and Head Diplomat.” The Uzukage’s voice is soft but firm, and she meets his gaze. He is young, but that is nothing new to her. He has the same sort of determination emanating from him as Temari, if a bit more subdued but no less fierce. “I did want a vacation,” she says blithely, pitching her voice excitedly as would be expected of someone who is truly here simply because she fluttered her eyelashes at her wife.

Toru raises an eyebrow.

Reika keeps grinning. “Which being surrounded by all this water definitely doesn’t count as,” she then continues with a shrug.

The Uzukage laughs.

* * *

Naturally, someone tries to kill her on one of the trips outside Uzushio. She’s the more obvious target for hurting the Kazekage because trying to kill a jinchuriki is usually quite the folly. Reika supposes that yes, she probably _is_ quite a lot easier to kill than someone with an ungodly amount of chakra at their fingertips, but it’s still rather insulting. Does no one read bingo books anymore?

The initial barrage of kunai and a rather clever combination of wire with exploding seals is easily reflected with her gunbai. A flick of her wrist has her Suna entourage fall back, and a longer glance has the Uzukage give the same command to his own guards. … It’s the _height_ of stupidity to attack her when the Uzukage is along as well. His face might still not be that well known, but Reika expects some more research from assassins. At least these ones brought quite a lot of firepower to make up for the lack of planning.

Overall, Uzushio has been welcoming, and she does like the village quite a lot, but there have been a few low but consistent voices questioning her standing. Her abilities. Her _strength_. These are old words by new voices, but it still chafes at her.

Reika _smiles_ and calls the wind. It eagerly comes to life at her fingertips and a twist of the gunbai. How nice of the assassins to give her the opportunity to let off some steam. She keeps smiling, and the swing of her gunbai brings havoc. _(There’s a reason for the name other villages‘ bingo books give her.)_

The last four assassins get to feel her kicks and the gunbai without the lethal wind chakra usually at its edge. Even if this is a rather incompetent attempt, it still happened while on a diplomatic mission, so they will need some answers.

She steps back as Uzushio nin jump forward with seals at their fingertips, presumably to keep the prisoners unconscious and subdued. Her own skill in seals is _very_ narrowingly focused on the ones augmenting her gunbai, and of course no one can match Uzushio in sheer breadth of sealing knowledge.

Reika cracks her neck and is rotating her wrists when Toru steps up to her. He raises an eyebrow, tilting his head at the tableau in front of them. She smiles - more honestly now - and shrugs. The Uzukage had stayed back along with his guards earlier, but he had been intensely focused on the fight and would’ve probably been the first to jump in if so required. Even now his gaze had first assessed her for damage before assuming a less piercing quality. She finds that she _likes_ this Kage.

“... Do you want to spar later?”

She looks up from inspecting the gunbai for damage.

“You seem like you could use a bit of distraction,” Toru adds with a smile.

She snorts. “You think so?!” Then she considers his offer. It’s made honestly, and another look at his face shows nothing but friendliness and some curiosity. He’s not offering out of pure obligation, and Reika doesn’t think he’d be the type to hold back in a spar to make someone else feel better. “I’d like that,” she says. She does like fighting stronger opponents - how else is she supposed to get better if not by constantly challenging herself.

_(The spar with Toru later is certainly interesting. There are a lot of people watching, but it’s somehow still fun in almost the same way sparring with Temari is. His attacks and way of fighting are distinctive and clever, so she doesn’t mind much that he wins most of their bouts. She still gets to work off a lot of energy along with some of her hits landing on the Uzukage. The man’s friendly suggestions all make sense, too, and she can easily see how a man like that single handedly raised Uzushio again on the strength of his bonds with people.)_

* * *

“There’s someone who wants to talk to you, Reika-san,” Toru quietly tells her a day later, arriving after knocking at the door of her assigned quarters.

She looks at him. His tone is somewhat cautious, but his face isn’t overly concerned. Nothing urgent then. “Did something come up with the trade agreements?”

“It’s more of a personal matter, I believe.” The Uzukage seems to hesitate for a moment. “I only ask that you remember that this man is now a citizen of Uzushio.”

Reika frowns. That sounds ominous, why would she have reason to not remember that-

A man steps through the open door behind Toru.

It’s her brother.

Oh.

She stares at Akitoshi for the first time in more than a decade.

Part of her mind reflexively catalogues the important details as she would about an unknown threat. Akitoshi has grown into his height with the muscle tone of an active lifestyle but not overly much so. He’s light on his feet but lacks the awareness high ranked active shinobi always have. She only sees a single hidden weapon. _Lower jounin level at best._ _Easy to neutralise_.

He stares right back, wariness and fondness mixing in his eyes, and suddenly Reika realises what she’s doing.

There are other things to notice about her brother, too. Many laugh lines run across his face along with healthy color from working under the sun. At his temples, his hair is just beginning to grey. There’s a ring on his hand, and he’s wearing comfortable Uzushio-style clothes. A crease in his pants is just the right height and shape for a toddler’s hand to have grabbed at the fabric for assurance.

 _Oh_.

It’s that last detail that makes her relax her stance and loosen her shoulders. She flicks a hand towards the direction of the head of her guard. “Take the day off, everyone,” she says without looking away from her brother.

“But-“ Yuuka starts, and now she turns her head to narrow her eyes at the other woman. “... very well, Commander.”

Reika waits until the chakra signatures of _all_ of her guards disappear. Or well, move away far enough to give them some measure of privacy. Then she turns back to Akitoshi and Toru. The latter has a faintly amused grin on his face, and her brother looks- hopeful.

She swallows and smiles, a bit hesitant. “... _Niisan_.”

And then she can’t tell who moves first, or maybe they both move at the same time, because suddenly they’re hugging. She presses her face into the crook of his shoulder just like when she was small, even if she’s almost as tall as him now. Akitoshi rubs his chin across the top of her head like he used to.

It’s perfect.

She’s blinking away tears around a growing smile, and looks up to meet the Uzukage’s gaze. “ _Thank you_ ,” she mouthes at him, and then, “ _don’t worry_ ,” because she realises that Toru must have been worried about her reaction - after all, Akitoshi is still officially a missing nin from Suna. Toru nods at her, smiling, and leaves.

( _There will be a lot of talking later, and more tears. There will also be a letter to Temari, telling her that Reika finally knew what she wanted as a belated wedding present. A pardon is a small thing after all, if it’s for someone who never did anything but leave a Suna that had offered him nothing but his family and friends’ deaths for even a few words of dissent. Reika and the Kazekage might disagree with his choice but they still understand.)_

Then she burrows her face back into her brother’s neck and finally lays those nightmares of her big brother dead by her childish hands to rest. “Thank you for your words all these years ago, Niisan,” she whispers into his shaking shoulders. “I did just that.”

Akitoshi draws back after a long time, eyeing her with a slightly rueful grin. “I heard. Suna’s very own Demon Gunbai! Commander of the Tessen Division, Head Diplomat… and then after all of that you just _had_ to marry the Kazekage, too.” Her brother may have run but of course he would’ve kept an ear open to Suna news, and mentions of his family especially would’ve caught his ear. Even if it was the ridiculous nickname bestowed on her by other villages.

She shrugs, grinning. “Kazekage-sama appreciates a certain set of skill and personality traits.”

Her brother huffs. “... she better! You take just after mom.”

They share a sad, but content smile. _(Kaori is long dead and Suna is not the same Suna anymore that had seen her so. That must be enough for either sibling. And perhaps, now, Akihito can share stories about their mom with Reika that were always too painful for Yuzune to share.)_

Akitoshi looks down at where the two of them have intertwined their hands, and then back up with hope shining in his eyes. “Would you like to meet my family?”

Reika smiles. “I’d love too.”

**Author's Note:**

> The Uzukage - Toru - , Uzushio, and all that fantastic worldbuilding are of course Fire’s and I just borrowed them for a bit here.


End file.
